The next morning, Lee called an emergency meeting of the council.
He told them everything the Pilgrim's revelation, the sacrifice, the choice. When he finished, the room erupted in chaos.
"Absolutely not!" Lady Ashara shouted. "The Light Bringer is our greatest weapon! We cannot sacrifice him!"
"Then what do you suggest?" Lord Zephyros demanded. "Let the Hollow King consume us all?"
"There has to be another way!"
"Is there? The Pilgrim has lived for three hundred years. If anyone knows the Hollow King's weaknesses, it's him."
"Maybe the Pilgrim is lying!" Prince Nerites added. "Maybe he serves the Hollow King himself!"
The arguments continued for hours. Lee listened to them all the fear, the anger, the desperation. He understood. Everyone was scared. Everyone wanted to survive.
But survival wasn't enough.
"I've made a decision," Lee said finally.
The room went silent.
"I'm not going to sacrifice myself. Not yet. But I'm also not going to ignore the Pilgrim's warning. We need to find another way a way to defeat the Hollow King without trading one life for another."
"And if there is no other way?" Lady Ashara asked.
Lee looked at her. At all of them.
"Then I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. But I'm not going to give up before I've even tried."
The council was silent.
Then, one by one, they nodded.
"Very well," Lady Ashara said. "We will search for another way. But we must also prepare for the possibility that none exists."
"I know," Lee said.
The meeting ended.
Lee walked out of the room and found Inyocha waiting for him in the hallway.
"Well?" Inyocha asked.
"We have time," Lee said. "Not much. But some."
"That's all I need."
They walked together, brothers in the uncertain light.
And somewhere beyond the stars, the Hollow King watched.
And waited.